Eight people die in flooding after Bulgaria dam bursts

A car stands in the flooded village of Biser on Monday. At least eight people drowned as torrential rains and overflowing rivers broke a dam wall and swept through whole villages in southern Bulgaria on Monday, officials said. Four elderly people drowned trapped in their houses in the southeastern village of Biser as a nearby dam wall broke, submerging the whole village under 2.5 metres (eight feet) of icy water, the interior ministry said.

AP

A man sorts through the remains of his home in the village of Bisser, about 180 miles east of the capital Sofia, on Monday.

BULFOTO via AFP - Getty Images

A man stands next to a collapsed house in the flooded village of Biser on Monday.

Authorities have declared a state of emergency in much of southern Bulgaria due to the heavy rain. District governor Irena Uzunova said four others were killed and 10 people are still missing in the floods that have washed away bridges and roads.

Bulgaria's civil defense agency warned that two bigger dams at Ivaylovgrad and Studena were also on the brink of overflowing and residents were urged to prepare for an evacuation. The government also warned Turkey and Greece of floods surging down the Arda, Tundzha and Maritsa rivers.